R.R. model magazines (ie: "hard copy")

snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net wrote in news:8b01231c01q7dh7l9n62127teha4v2pbbn@

"what" I'd recommend is visiting a hobby shop or magazine store and picking up copies of what you think you're interested in and see how if you like them. Many magazines will also send you a few free issues so you can decide whether you like them or not.

I've had a subscription to Model Railroder for almost 10 years. When my subscription lapsed, I went without it for several months and decided I missed it enough to renew. We'll see how things do after they get a new editor. It seems like every month they're printing corrections...

Puckropper

Model Railroader is pretty good.

Perhaps more than ever before, choosing one particular magazine over another today depends a great deal on the level of seriousness you place on your hobby and your current skills level (and to what degree you wish to advance them). While Model Railroader was long considered the premier magazine in the hobby and the realm of the accomplished model railroader, over the past decade it has been steadily slipping toward being one directed much more at newbees, those modeling at a rather basic level and the RTR crowd. The layouts depicted in the pages of MR, however, are very much at the opposite end of the spectrum! The change in direction the magazine has demonstrated has, in part, resulted in their progressively losing circulation (45,000 in the last ten years) and acceptance among more traditional and advanced model railroaders.

Railroad Model Craftsman is perhaps a less "slick" magazine than MR but is aimed toward the craftsman side of the hobby and largely illustrates projects intended to advance one's modeling skills and creativity. It is and largely always was, the magazine of the more skilled, traditional hobbyist. Its sticking with the core hobbyists' interests has resulted in its circulation having remained relatively constant (as compared with MR's) for nearly a decade. Often the layouts shown in its pages are, with some moderate degree of effort, attainable by the typical reader. However, a newcomer to the hobby may find the more technical modeling articles over their heads or beyond their skills.

There are several other much smaller general interest or "specialty" magazines centered around HO modeling out there but this group has been declining rather rapidly recently. Several such magazines have creased publication in just the past year. As the hobby slowly shrinks (all these secondary magazines currently have marginal circulation) in the next half decade or so, I suspect that all these will probably disappear from the scene.

CNJ999

CNJ:

Actually, I have to dissent a bit, because I think the very advanced craftsmen publish more articles in Model Railroader (the Ben Kings and Carl Traubs). This of course is not a statistical analysis but a possibly bogus casual observation. RMC seems, these days, to have a better handle on the sort of projects "people actually do"; neither elementary nor extraordinarily difficult. My favorite feature of RMC, of course, is their more folksy tone. Through back-issues I have somehow become firmly aligned with the Jim Findlays and E. L. Moores (and Eric La Nals) of model railroading, I suppose.

On the other hand, both publish good scale drawings, and MR's very good layout tours are always worth reading. They do publish a lot of novice-level stuff, but to be fair this wouldn't necessarily be bad if done properly. Linn H. Westcott used to be very good at writing articles about things you already thought you completely understood, and yet showing you something new...Gorden Odegard could do that too, now that I think of it. The only things I really don't like in MR are "Asleep at the Throttle" and "Trains of Pompous Thought", but I can still read those for the comic value, and after all they're only editorial features.

The fact is, they're both good magazines, and while I subscribe to neither at present, I buy both regularly at the grocery store news stand. Some issues are good, some not so good. Buy both, and pick up Railmodel Journal, perhaps, if your model shop carries it. Frankly, I can't really get into RMJ.

Cordially yours: Gerard P. President, a box of track and some grids.

I recall in the 50s and 60s RMC's Bill Shopp's (RIP) articles on "brass bashing" where he'd cut up two 2-8-0s to create a 2-8-8-2. I learned a lot of "working with brass" from his articles.

Today...I'm strictly a tin-plater with two display cases filled with H0 brass.

And I no longer read MR, RMC or even CTT.

One that no one else has mentioned so far is the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette, commonly referred to as the Gazette. I don't model narrow gauge, but find enough old structure and rolling stock articles to make it my favorite.

I concur on the opinion of MR. I still read it, but at the public library. That way I don't pay more than it's worth :-). But if you can find a stack of old ones from the 50s to the 80s (some would say 90s) by all means buy them.

Just a thought.

Pick up 10 years of Model Railroader or Railroader Model Craftsman from the 50's or 60's for example. Some of the articles are a little dated, but great stuff.

Still good bets today also.....

Jim

I will most definitely second the suggestions of several previous posters that purchasing back issues of MR (from the 1950 until the mid

CNJ999

The best advce you hav receved id=s that from puckdropper above.

Each modeler has differnt interests and skilll. No one mag will fit all.

Go to a well equipped rr oriented local hobby shop once a month ( or more) for three months and get each of Model Ralroader (MR), Railroad Model Craftsman (RMC), and the Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette (the Gazette). Read the all. Make one or two or three choices. (Or more).

Personally, I subscribe to RMC and the Gazette. I used to sudscribe to MR (from about 1970 to sometime in the late 90s) but have stopped with MR. Personal choice and preference. YMMV.

snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net spake thus:

Since you asked, yes: /Mainline Modeler/. Incredible photography, articles on building all kinds of stuff, prototype plans for locos, cars, depots, etc., and just overall high-quality articles. Unfortunately, it's no longer publishing. Fortunately, you can still buy back issues:

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 07:22:36 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net wrote: To all those who responded to my query, Thank you very much! I guess the best suggestion is to get several and "try" to decide. Thanx again

Bruce

P.S. Somewhere 'mongst the saved junk, I have a bunch from the late

And that's where you'll notice the dramatic difference compared to today's examples. MR has gone from highly informative to largely illustrative, except at the most modeling levels. Still, one needs to choose a magazine that suits their own modeling level.

CNJ999

I subscribed from about 1983 to about 1995. It got to the point where it seemed more like one of the slick computer magazines that has more crap than useful articles. It's been a while since I have stopped by the hobby shop magazine rack. I looked at the magazines about 1 year ago and thought "I could build some neat stuff for that price."

David Starr wrote in news:46229c53$0$8925 $ snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com:

I think you mean "Model Railroader" and not "Model Railroading." If I recall, there was a magazine named "Model Railroading" that had the slogan "Attainable Excellence."

Puckdropper

I used to subscribe to Garden Railways until a year or two ago. When Kalmbach bought them out several years ago, they changed a distinctive cover design to a mundane design, making it look like any other magazine. The content was very elementary stuff. I have the same sort of complaint about GR as others here have about MR.

The one magazine I now subscribe to is Steam in the Garden. It's put out by a guy in upstate New York and is concerned with small scale live steamers, and some small steam boat material. It's a little heavy on coverage of local steam ups, but that material is easy to get and print. There is some good technical stuff in it. Some guys are experimenters and tinkerers, and they're writing about state of the art steam stuff they do. If you want to get away from running electric trains indoors, take a look at this one.

It's unfortunate that those you cite are no longer amongst the living. Ben King did some Great stuff, as did El Moore. The only one comparable nowadays is Jim Six, and the most recent article of his in MR is a shell of what he used to do. But as I understand it, MR heavily edits his stuff to take out a lot of the background material. I'll be letting my sub lapse as of June, mainly because Thompson will still be involved. I thought him being an NYC fan (which I am) would be greta, but eh mag has gone downhill. Jack

A point worth noting in conjunction with this statement is that, over the course of the last decade, MR has increasing been publishing these sorts of misleading "advanced modeling" articles. I agree that Jim's original draft probably contained considerable useful info on techniques necessary for reproducing his results. But read the published version and try to gain enough info even to start - you won't! Such articles, while always nicely illustrated, are consistantly very superficial, with the necessary details always seriously lacking. About a year ago MR ran a "scratchbuilding" article concerning a trackside produce business. The article was based on a previous 1950's MR article on the same building. The original ran 7 pages and included everything necessay, including the signage, to reproduce the building. The recent article ran 1 page and was totally worthless for building anything!

CNJ999

It is the same with some TV programs on the DIY channel. They are pushing their web site. MR has articles that you can pay for and download.